Chain reaction bus crash created traffic nightmare

Frank Julianoand Amanda Cuda

Updated 11:20 pm, Wednesday, July 3, 2013

One of the two buses involved in an accident on I-95, southbound, near exit 31 in Stratford, Conn., July 3rd, 2013. Several people were transported to local hospitals with serious injuries.
Photo: Ned Gerard

One of the two buses involved in an accident on I-95, southbound, near exit 31 in Stratford, Conn., July 3rd, 2013. Several people were transported to local hospitals with serious injuries.
Photo: Ned Gerard

Two buses are involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 in Stratford, Conn. on Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Seven injured people are being taken to Bridgeport hospitals. There are 56 other passengers who have declined medical care, officials say. EMS units from several towns are on the scene, along with firefighters.
Photo: Rob Varnon

Two buses are involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 in Stratford, Conn. on Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Seven injured people are being taken to Bridgeport hospitals. There are 56 other passengers who have declined medical care, officials say. EMS units from several towns are on the scene, along with firefighters.
Photo: Rob Varnon

Two buses are involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 in Stratford, Conn. on Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Seven injured people are being taken to Bridgeport hospitals. There are 56 other passengers who have declined medical care, officials say. EMS units from several towns are on the scene, along with firefighters.
Photo: Rob Varnon

Two buses are involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 in Stratford, Conn. on Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Seven injured people are being taken to Bridgeport hospitals. There are 56 other passengers who have declined medical care, officials say. EMS units from several towns are on the scene, along with firefighters.
Photo: Rob Varnon

Two buses are involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 in Stratford, Conn. on Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Seven injured people are being taken to Bridgeport hospitals. There are 56 other passengers who have declined medical care, officials say. EMS units from several towns are on the scene, along with firefighters.

More Information

Recent bus accidents

March 12, 2011: 15 passengers were killed when a bus headed from Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville to Chinatown in New York City crashed into an exit sign on Interstate 95 in the Bronx, near the Westchester County line.March 15, 2011: Two people died and five were critically injured in a tour bus accident on I-95 just south of exit 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike. The bus ended up in a ditch after hitting a guard rail and concrete barrier. There were 41 people on board at the time of the crash.Oct. 6, 2012: A tour bus on its way to Manhattan from Toronto overturned on the Interstate 80 exit ramp to Route 46 in Wayne, N.J., sending 12 passengers --including eight in critical condition -- to area hospitals. July 4, 2012: A tour bus returning to New York City from Foxwoods Resort Casino struck a guardrail on Interstate 95 in New Rochelle, N.Y., injuring 24.

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STRATFORD -- At least nine people were injured after a chain reaction crash involving a tractor-trailer, two buses and a car on southbound Interstate 95 on Wednesday morning. The mid-morning crash backed up traffic all the way to New Haven, about 20 miles away.

According to State Police reports, the accident took place shortly before 10 a.m., when an unknown vehicle cut off the tractor-trailer in the center lane. Both the driver of the truck, owned by New Jersey-based C&J Appliances and the driver of a Dartmouth Coach bus slowed suddenly. The driver of the second bus, owned by Autocar Preference Limited in Quebec, tried to stop, but couldn't brake in time and hit the Dartmouth Coach from behind. The impact slammed the Coach bus into the tractor trailer.

A 2005 Dodge Magnum following the bus from Quebec also couldn't stop in time and hit the bus.

Charter bus companies have come under increased scrutiny since a tour bus accident on March 12, 2011, killed 15 passengers traveling from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville to Chinatown in New York City. The bus crashed into an exit sign on I-95 in the Bronx, near the Westchester County line.

Nancy Laren, 60 of New Hampshire, was getting an early start on the holiday weekend Wednesday when the Dartmouth Coach bus she was taking to New York to visit family crashed.

"I was looking out the window and I felt the bus put on the brakes and he kept strengthening on the brakes," Laren said. "I remember hitting my head."

The accident not only backed up southbound traffic on the highway for miles, but also caused tie-ups on surrounding roads.

The drivers of the Dodge, the Quebec bus and the tractor-trailer all went to the hospital for complaints of pain, as did the three passengers in the Dodge and three passengers from the Dartmouth Coach bus, including Laren. Two teens and three adults were taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center and all were listed in stable condition, a spokeswoman for the hospital said. Four of the injured were brought to Bridgeport Hospital.

Officials said 56 passengers declined medical care.

The driver of the Quebec bus and the driver of the Dodge were both issued infractions for following too closely.

In addition to hitting her head, Laren had her book resting on the tray in front of her and the book flew and hit her in the chest, she said.

She had been planning to visit family on Long Island for the holiday weekend, but by mid-afternoon Wednesday Laren remained under observation in Bridgeport Hospital's emergency department and waited for her son to make the trip from Brooklyn, N.Y., to pick her up.

Laren said after the accident she was no longer in the mood to visit with family.

"I just want to go home," she said. "I'm in too much pain. I just want to go home."

Ken Hunter, operations director for Dartmouth Coach, said 23 people were on board his company's bus, and that Laren and the two other passengers who went to the hospital did so as "a precautionary measure. None appear to have been seriously injured and we expect that they'll be released shortly if they haven't been yet."

The bus was on the company's daily run to New York City, from New Hampshire through Boston.